Realignment realized

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Monday—July 1 on the calendar—was a day that gave order to so much of the conference chaos that has occurred during the past three years.

It was on this day that so many moves became official, which is why the Atlantic Coast Conference commemorated it with a news conference in New York and various schools staged events or pep rallies to mark their movement to new leagues.

Some of those celebrating, though, may be disappointed when they find out how life in their new leagues plays out. And some may be even happier than they realize.

Here’s a look at some of the winners and losers—from purely a basketball standpoint—now that the reshuffling is official.

When Georgia State announced its creation of an FBS football program in 2010, there at least was a logic to it. Atlanta is a football city in a football state. Charlotte? Yes, it has the Panthers. But North Carolina is not a football state. So Charlotte’s decision to change its entire athletic identity remains a bit puzzling. Moving into Conference USA to support that decision means that instead of playing solid programs such as VCU, Dayton and Saint Louis in hoops, the 49ers—who had a breakout year under Alan Major in 2012-13—will be competing against Florida Atlantic, North Texas and UT San Antonio. The Diego Guevara bobblehead that is on my desk appears to be blowing a kiss goodbye to basketball relevance.

Strictly in basketball terms, the most prominent members of the new American Conference will not be as diminished by the realignment as many expect. Gonzaga, Xavier and Memphis have enjoyed extraordinary success with less accomplished company than the American’s best will enjoy. But the Huskies will feel it the most at the start, primarily because of the detachment from the Madison Square Garden tournament. Kemba Walker, Ben Gordon and most recently Omar Calhoun came from New York City and its environs, aware they’d have the chance to play back home in maybe the second-biggest tournament of March. Perhaps the American eventually will be able to muscle the A-10 out of Brooklyn, but for now playing in Memphis isn’t going to be as romantic for an NYC kid.

In the past 15 seasons, competing as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, the Bluejays made nine NCAA Tournament appearances and four NITs. This was from a league turning out two NCAA squads per season. So Creighton was consuming nearly a third of the Valley’s bids and making it just about two of every three seasons. That’s not going to be easy to duplicate with the move to the Big East. We’ve long warned of the dangers of being on the geographic fringe of any conference. It’s not impossible to succeed in those circumstances, but it’s a challenge when the core of players with a primary interest in playing in your league—in this case, those players growing up in the D.C.-Philadelphia-New York corridor—is so far removed from your campus.

With a basketball program regaining its footing and a football program that at least has been in business for a while—albeit at the FCS level—there seemed to be a chance the Minutemen might have a chance to bring all their sports under one roof as part of the American. Alas, UMass did not make that cut. So the Minutemen won’t get the chance to play UConn, Cincy and Memphis in hoops and also will have to keep their football program parked in the Mid-American Conference. They haven’t been there long, which probably is why the AAC wasn’t moved. Well, that and the fact UConn has always pretty much hated them.

The Monarchs made four NCAA Tournament appearances in the past nine years, from a league (the Colonial Athletic Association) that frequently sent only its champion to the field. There also was the fact the core of the league resided in Virginia. That connection started to dwindle when Richmond left for the Atlantic 10 in 2001 and was exacerbated when VCU joined the A-10 last season. But there’s still a greater appeal for ODU basketball to be competing against regional opponents Delaware and James Madison in the Colonial than distant foes such as UTSA in Conference USA. The many programs moving to FBS football—are we really supposed to believe they’ll one day be competitive with Alabama?

The school that once brought you Elvin Hayes, Phi Slama Jama and Damon Jones, that came within a half-second of an NCAA championship in 1983—that school won 20 games last season. And who noticed? Not that anyone should have. That 20-win season included a 7-9 record in a substandard Conference USA. But there always has been potential for this program in the right hands, and now there’ll be a solid set of opponents in the American that will represent achievement should the Cougars enjoy any success.

The Fighting Irish always have been as in charge of the whole conference reshuffling as they want to be. If they’d bring along football, any league in college sports would have them. But as they continued to cling to football independence and the rest of college sports went mad with realignment, there was a moment when ND was imperiled. Not truly imperiled, but it might have had to place its basketball program in the Big 12, hardly ideal for a school that recruits most of its players from the East. When the Atlantic Coast Conference decided to offer a spot—enticed by the package of football games the Irish promised to play against league members—it all worked out for the Irish. As it usually does.

It was beginning to seem as though the Jersey schools might be forever linked in Big East basketball failure. Neither Seton Hall nor Rutgers produced a winning conference season in the past seven years. That’s a combined 14 seasons, and the best either could manage was Seton Hall’s 9-9 mark in 2009-10. Perhaps more so than any program in the league, Seton Hall suffered from the financial disparity that existed with many of the football-playing schools. Now, they’re all gone, and the Pirates will see their TV take double with the Big East’s new Fox contract. It has to help.

Just as the Tigers prepare to open a new arena, just as they’ve broken out of a funk as deep as any program in memory with a record-setting turnaround that resulted in an 18-13 season, just as they’ve broken out of APR jail and will be eligible for posteason play in 2013-14, Towson now looks around the Colonial Athletic Association and sees no George Mason, no VCU, no Old Dominion. If the CAA now is a one-bid league, the Tigers would be pleased to be the one. And if they follow their recent course, they’ve got a shot.

Stew Morrill still the coach? Yeah? Well, then. The program that has made eight NCAA Tournaments since 2000—and been underseeded in just about every one—might finally have a shot at some selection committee respect as members of the Mountain West Conference. The Aggies finished 30-3 in 2011 and were handed a No. 12 seed by the committee. In 2009, they were 30-4 and got an 11. Which is interesting, because in 2012 New Mexico State was 26-9 and got a 13. So you can see why the Mountain West could be invigorating for the Aggies. They’ll face good competition almost nightly now, and they’ll need to play better than the past two seasons. But if they win, they might at last be rewarded.